The Decemberists

The Decemberists are a five-piece indie pop band from Portland, Oregon, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. Their debut EP, 5 Songs, was self-released in 2001, and their fourth full-length album, The Crane Wife, is their first release on a major label, due out October 3, 2006.

Named both in reference to the Russian Decembrist Revolt and the atmosphere associated with the month of December1, the Decemberists write songs that range from upbeat pop to instrumentally lush ballads, and often employ instruments like the accordion and upright bass. In their lyrics, they eschew the angst and introspection common to modern rock, instead favoring a storytelling approach with lines like "My mother was a Chinese trapeze artist / In pre-war Paris / Smuggling bombs for the underground" (from "My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist", on 5 Songs) and "We are two mariners / Our ships' sole survivors / In this belly of a whale / Its ribs our ceiling beams / Its guts our carpeting / I guess...